Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The Ring!

Below is the G-rated, family approved version of why my betrothed and I chose not to purchase a traditional ring, and why in fact I refuse to give a large sum of money to a jeweler that deals in regular diamonds these days. Here's the UN's version of what's going on with conflict diamonds. Here's a more colorful tale of child soldiers that have gotten caught up in the rebel action - distinctly NOT G-rated, reader beware. And of course, this doesn't even breach the topic that mining is incredibly environmentally destructive... Soon I'll tell you the story of getting my fancy ring, which is a whole other story indeed.

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On Saturday, May 24th, Melissa received her "real" engagement ring from Jonathan. The ring was custom ordered, and so had not arrived on time for the anniversary engagement. But no matter. The ring is special in many ways, reflecting our unique, non-traditional style as well as our values as a couple.

Due to various recent socio-political and ecological issues, we didn't want a ring that was made with either mined stones or metals. Luckily we happened upon GreenKarat, a company that specializes in making stunning pieces of jewelery from lab created gems and recycled precious metals. The ring we chose contains three stones: a sapphire in the center with a diamond flanking each side. All three stones are blue... like Jonathan's eyes. The color comes from trace elements not always found within the minerals; the sapphire is blue due to traces of titanium and iron, while the diamonds contain traces of boron. (Geology rocks!) The result is a beautiful, lustrous ring set in shiny, gorgeous, recycled white gold.

Melissa couldn't be happier with the ring's origins or its appearance, and Jonathan just seems relieved to have the darned thing on her finger. As far as sparkly things go, though, he seems to think it's pretty alright. It's a beautiful symbol of our relationship in many ways, simultaneously classic but unique, delicate but durable. The three stones are said to represent past, present, and future; with any luck our future together will hold as much beauty.

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It goes like this.

We planned a whole vegan shebang up here in NYC, which even with our super-simple lowballing plans was singing to the tune of $25K... or more. So we decided that no way were we gonna drop that kind of cash on one day, no matter how important that day might be. We floated in limbo for a while. Have there been other problems? Oh yes, there have. But now we've arrived at a solid Plan B - wedding in New Orleans! Sounds a little nuts, right? But it actually makes more sense than anything else we've considered...

What is this girl rambling about?

Well, the thing is that my fiance and I are both vegan, and this wedding is for us. But of course we also want it to be amazing for our guests. We're also fairly non-traditional; there will be no church, I will not be wearing white, and we refuse to go into debt over this thing. No one's giving me to anyone, and there's no aisle to walk down anyway. What it all adds up to is that we'll be sort of starting from scratch, building a wedding that works for us from the ground up. We'll be doing a lot of things ourselves, from interrogating caterers and cake-makers to making our own centerpieces, bouquets, and invitations. It won't be as off-the-wall as some of the weddings out there, but it won't be your standard fare either, and it should be rather fun making it all happen. As my darling would say, you can color along and see what happens...

The ring. *sigh*

Our Lennox champagne glasses.

the mikasa cake serving set - look ma, no bows!

topiary!

Cupcakes from Vegan Treats that we are not having. But they were good!

About Me

vegan in new orleans, hurrah. i was born in a storm, and raised in one too. and then one named katrina changed my life. i have a hard time saying where i'm from, but i can tell you for sure that my heart and my home are in new orleans, the place where i wasn't born. i left there after nine years not knowing what i had - what's that old cliche? now i've returned with a better appreciation. in the interim, i spent 5.5 years in nyc riding the subway and taking pictures. i get by with a husband who loves to drive me crazy, four rescued rabbits, and one rescued monster who thinks himself a cat.